<April 25-30>
One of my students who took my course on "Trauma and Global Society" several years ago sent me an announcement of a symposium in May first.
I did not know she is from Minami-sanriku-cho in Miyagi, one of the towns hit very hard by the Tsunami - 70% of the houses were destroyed. Luckily her house is on the hill and her immediate family is ok, but some of her friends and relatives are still missing.
She remembered a small anecdote I mentioned in my course. A Tohoku specialist had written a Japanese word "Atokusare" as Trauma. Literally Ato means "back" or "post" and "kusare" means "rotten." It was quite interesting for me and I checked dictionary for how "Atokusare" can be translated into English. And it said "a future trouble." Trauma is often mentioned in retrospect with history and memory. But the main problem trauma causes is that it lingers into the future. What a correct meaning!
My student wrote to me that the nuclear power plant became a real "future trouble."
She decided to become a "speaker" for her town. Will my course be helpful for her to keep on being a "speaker" and go through "future troubles"? I sincerely hope so.